[DotGNU]Using Gtk# with Portable.NET

[Rhys Weatherley]

I've been working hard this last week on getting pnet to the
stage of being able to use Gtk#.  And it now seems to be
working (lots of testing required though).  A screenshot
can be found here:

    http://www.southern-storm.com.au/download/pnetgtk.png

You will need the CVS version of pnet to use Gtk#.  Version
0.4.0 does not have sufficient functionality.

This update also improves support for delegates and events
in the C# compiler, which Gtk# relies upon heavily.  It isn't
perfect yet - some of the Gtk# samples don't compile yet.
But there is enough support that you should be able to start
writing useful Gtk# utility programs.

I have also added a way to allow Mono and pnet system assemblies
to coexist on the same system.  This is necessary as you need
quite a few Mono assemblies to run Gtk#.  This brings us closer
to our goal of "use low-level pnet libraries and high-level Mono
libraries".

The gory details of using Gtk# are appended, and can also be
found in "pnet/doc/gtk-sharp.HOWTO".

Cheers,

Rhys.

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This document describes how to use the Gtk# library with Portable.NET.

1. Install Gtk+ 2.0.

You will need an up to date installation of Gtk+ to use Gtk#.  The versions
that come with RedHat 7.x (for example) are not sufficient.  Refer to
http://www.gtk.org/ for the latest sources and install instructions.

If you have to install Gtk+ 2.0 somewhere other than the standard system
location, you will need to set your LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable
to point at this non-standard location.

2. Get a recent snapshot of Gtk#.

Recent builds of Gtk# can be obtained from "http://www.atoker.com/mono/";.
You will need the "gtk-sharp", "gtk-sharp-glue" and "mono-assemblies"
packages.

If you have Debian, then simply install those packages.  If you don't
have Debian, then you will need to extract the files that you need
from the packages first.  Use the following commands to extract a Debian
package:

        ar x gtk-sharp_????.deb
        tar xvfz data.tar.gz

The files you want will normally be in "./usr/lib" after extraction.

The Debian packages will normally install the required ".dll" and ".so"
files into "/usr/lib".  Portable.NET should be able to find the files
here.  If not, set your LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable to point
at the location.

3. Compile and run a Gtk# test program.

The "gtk-sharp/sample" directory of the Mono CVS tree contains some sample
programs that you can try out.  For example, "HelloWorld.cs".  Compile it
using Portable.NET's C# compiler as follows:

        cscc -o gtk-hello-world.exe HelloWorld.cs -gtk

The "-gtk" compiler option will automatically add all of the Gtk# libraries
to the link line.  The companion option "-gnome" will add all of the Gnome#
libraries.  You can list the libraries manually if you wish:

        -lgnome-sharp -lgtk-sharp -lgdk-sharp -lgdk-imaging-sharp
        -latk-sharp -lpango-sharp -lglib-sharp -lSystem.Drawing -lSystem

You should now be able to run the test program:

        ilrun gtk-hello-world.exe

If the compiler or the runtime engine has problems finding the required
libraries, then use the "-L" option to specify explicit paths.

4. Have fun writing your own Gtk# applications!

The Gtk# Web page contains links to source code, examples, and
documentation:

        http://gtk-sharp.sourceforge.net/
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